| Ungulate Fossil range: Late Cretaceous - Recent |
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 Llamas, which have two toes, are artiodactyls -- "even toed" ungulates
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Ungulates (meaning roughly "being hoofed" or "hoofed animal") are several groups of mammals most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole bodyweight while moving. Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white Chalk cliffs of southern England The llama ( Lama glama) is a South American Camelid, widely used as a Pack animal by the Incas and other natives of the Andes The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands See also Evolution of mammals Eutheria ("true beast" are a group of Mammals consisting of Placental mammals plus all extinct Mammals The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and Grazing Mammals which compose the order Perissodactyla. Mesonychia ("Middle Claws quot are an extinct order of medium to large-sized carnivorous mammals that were closely related to Artiodactyls (even-toed Cetartiodactyla is the Clade to which Whales (including Dolphins and Even-toed ungulates have currently been placed The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about Meridiungulata is a clade with the rank of cohort or super-order possibly part of Laurasiatheria, containing the South-American Ungulates Pyrotheria The Litopterna ("Simple Ankles quot is an order of Fossil hoofed Mammals ( Ungulates from the Tertiary period that displays toe The notoungulates are an extinct order of hoofed Mammals ( Ungulates that were native to South America. Pyrotheria is an order of Extinct meridiungulate Mammals These Mastodon -like Ungulates include the genera Astrapotheria is an extinct order of South American hoofed animals HoofRearHoovesjpg|thumb|200px|right|Rear hooves of a horse]] A hoof is the tip of a Toe of an Ungulate Mammal, strengthened by a thick horny ( Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive. This article is about the taxonomic rank for the sequence of species in a taxonomic list see Taxonomic order In scientific classification used There is some dispute as to whether Ungulata are a cladistic (evolution-based) group, or merely a phenetic group (similar, but not necessarily related), because not all ungulates appear as closely related as once believed. Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of Species based on evolutionary ancestry Phenetics should not be confused with Phonetics, the study of speech sounds despite the similarity in pronunciation Ungulata was considered an order which has been split into Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, Tubulidentata, Hyracoidea, Sirenia, and Proboscidea. The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and Grazing Mammals which compose the order Perissodactyla. The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about The Aardvark ( Orycteropus afer) ("Digging foot" is a medium-sized burrowing nocturnal Mammal native to Africa. A hyrax (from Greek 'shrewmouse' Afrikaans: klipdassie, from Dutch: klipdas 'rockbadger' is any of four Species of fairly Not to be confused with order Sirenidae (aquatic salamanders For the Gothic metal band see Sirenia (band Sirenia Proboscidea is an order containing only one family of living animals Elephantidae the Elephants with three living Species ( African Bush Members of the orders Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, and Cetacea are called the 'true ungulates' to distinguish them from 'subungulates' (paenungulata) which include members from the Proboscidea, Sirenia, Hyracoidea, and Tubulidentata orders. The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and Grazing Mammals which compose the order Perissodactyla. The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is Paenungulata is a taxon that groups some remarkable Mammals constituting three orders Proboscidea ( Elephants, Sirenia ( Sea cows Paenungulata is a taxon that groups some remarkable Mammals constituting three orders Proboscidea ( Elephants, Sirenia ( Sea cows Proboscidea is an order containing only one family of living animals Elephantidae the Elephants with three living Species ( African Bush Not to be confused with order Sirenidae (aquatic salamanders For the Gothic metal band see Sirenia (band Sirenia A hyrax (from Greek 'shrewmouse' Afrikaans: klipdassie, from Dutch: klipdas 'rockbadger' is any of four Species of fairly The Aardvark ( Orycteropus afer) ("Digging foot" is a medium-sized burrowing nocturnal Mammal native to Africa. [1]
Commonly known examples of ungulates living today are the horse, zebra, donkey, cattle/bison, rhinoceros, camel, hippopotamus, goat, pig, sheep, giraffe, okapi, deer, tapir, antelope, and gazelle. The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. Zebras are African Equids best known for their distinctive white and black stripes The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae or horse family and an odd-toed ungulate. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family This is an article about an animal For other uses see Bison (disambiguation. Rhinoceros (raɪˈnɒsərəs often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of Odd-toed ungulates in the family Camels are Even-toed ungulates within the Genus Camelus. The Dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump and the The hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) from the Greek ἱπποπόταμος ( hippopotamos, ιππος hippos meaning "horse" The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times The giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African Even-toed ungulate Mammal, the tallest of all land-living Animal Species The Okapi ( Okapia johnstoni) is a Mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. Tapirs (ˈteɪpɚ as in "taper" or /təˈpɪər/ as "ta-pier" are large browsing Mammals, roughly pig-like in shape with short Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. A GAZelle (ГАЗе́ль is a series of mid-sized Trucks Vans and Buses made by Russian car manufacturer GAZ.
Contents |
Relationships
The Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla make up the largest portion of ungulates, and also comprise the majority of large land mammals. The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and Grazing Mammals which compose the order Perissodactyla. The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about These two groups first appeared during the late Paleocene and early Eocene (about 54 million years ago), rapidly spreading to a wide variety of species on numerous continents, and have developed in parallel since that time. The Paleocene or Palaeocene, "early dawn of the recent" is a geologic epoch that lasted from 65 The Eocene epoch (558 ± 02 - 339 ± 01 Ma) is a major division of the Geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in
Although whales and dolphins (Cetacea) do not possess most of the typical morphological characteristics of ungulates, recent discoveries have suggested that they are likely descended from early artiodactyls, and thus are directly related to other even-toed ungulates such as cattle and hippopotami. Whales are marine mammals which are neither Dolphins (ie members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) nor Porpoises Orcas Dolphins are Marine mammals that are closely related to Whales and Porpoises There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about The hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) from the Greek ἱπποπόταμος ( hippopotamos, ιππος hippos meaning "horse" As a result of these discoveries, a new order of Cetartiodactyla has also been proposed to include the members of Artiodactyla and Cetacea, to reflect their common ancestry; however, strictly speaking, this is not necessary, as it is possible simply to recognize Cetacea as a subgroup of Artiodactyla. Cetartiodactyla is the Clade to which Whales (including Dolphins and Even-toed ungulates have currently been placed The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is
The Hyracoidea, Sirenia and Proboscidea are the Paenungulata. Paenungulata is a taxon that groups some remarkable Mammals constituting three orders Proboscidea ( Elephants, Sirenia ( Sea cows The Tubulidentata are also thought to be ungulates. The Macroscelidea have been interpreted as ungulates, and there is dental as well as genetic evidence supporting this interpretation. Elephant shrews or jumping shrews are small insectivorous Mammals native to Africa, belonging to the Macroscelididae family in the Some recent studies link Tubulidentata with the Paenungulata in the Pseudoungulata. Pseudoungulata, or "false hoofed mammals" is a possible Clade made up of two subgroups the Aardvarks, and the paenungulates ( Hyraxes [2] Genetic studies indicate that these animals are not closely related to the artiodactyls and perissodactyls. Instead, the closest relatives of pseudungulates are the Afrosoricida; the Pseudungulata and Afrosoricida make up the Afrotheria. The order Afrosoricida (a Latin-Greek compound name which means "looking like African shrews" contains the Golden moles of southern Africa and Afrotheria is a Clade of Mammals with the rank of Superorder or Cohort, containing (among others the Golden moles Elephant shrews
Ungulate groups represented in the fossil record include the embrithopods, demostylians, mesonychids, "condylarths" and various South American and Paleogene lineages. FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. Embrithopoda is an extinct order of mammals which first appeared in the fossil record during the late Eocene and then died out during the Oligocene, 35+ million The Desmostylia ( Greek for "bonded pillars" are an Extinct order of Marine mammals which existed from the Arikareean age Mesonychia ("Middle Claws quot are an extinct order of medium to large-sized carnivorous mammals that were closely related to Artiodactyls (even-toed Condylarthra is an order of extinct Placental Mammals known primarily from the Paleocene and Eocene epochs The Paleogene (alternatively Palaeogene) is a geologic period and system that began 65
In addition to hooves, most ungulates have developed reduced canine teeth, bunodont molars (molars with low, rounded cusps), and an astragalus (one of the ankle bones at the end of the lower leg) with a short, robust head. "Cuspid" redirects here For the heart valves see Bicuspid valve and Tricuspid valve. Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of Tooth in most Mammals In many mammals they grind food hence the Latin name mola, " Millstone See Talus for other meanings of the word The talus bone or astragalus of the Ankle joint connects the leg to the foot
Another characteristic of most ungulates is the fusion of the front forelimbs. In ungulates, the radius and ulna are fused along the length of the forelimb. Remote Authentication Dial In User Service ( RADIUS) is a networking protocol that provides centralized access authorization and accounting management for people or computers The ulna ( elbow bone) is a long bone prismatic in form placed at the medial side of the Forearm, parallel with the radius. This is a trait of most modern ungulates, as early ungulates, such as the arctocyonids did not share this unique skeletal structure[3]. The fusion of the radius and ulna prevents an ungulate from rotating its forelimb. Since this skeletal structure has no specific function in ungulates, it is considered to be a homologous characteristic that ungulates share with other mammals. This trait would have been passed down from a common ancestor.
Ungulates diversified rapidly in the Eocene, but are thought to date back as far as the late Cretaceous. The Eocene epoch (558 ± 02 - 339 ± 01 Ma) is a major division of the Geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in The Cretaceous (kriːˈteɪʃəs, usually abbreviated 'K' for its German translation "Kreide" is a geologic period and system, reaching from the end of Most ungulates are herbivores, but a few are omnivores or even predators: the Mesonychia and whales. Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell Omnivores (from Latin omne all everything vorare to devour are species that eat both Plants and Animals as their primary Mesonychia ("Middle Claws quot are an extinct order of medium to large-sized carnivorous mammals that were closely related to Artiodactyls (even-toed Whales are marine mammals which are neither Dolphins (ie members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) nor Porpoises Orcas
This is the family tree of the ungulates (notice below, it's excluding the paenungulates, but including the whales and the South American ungulates, and the common ancestor, as some scientists believe).
Recent developments
That these groups of mammals are most closely related to each other has occasionally been questioned on anatomical and genetic grounds. Molecular phylogenetic studies have suggested that Perissodactyla and Cetartiodactyla are closest to Carnivora and Pholidota rather than to the Pseudungulata. The diverse order Carnivora (kɑrˈnɪvərə or sometimes /ˌkɑrnɪˈvɔərə/ from Latin carō (stem carn-) "flesh" + vorāre
The Pseudungulata are by some scientists united with the Afrosoricida in the cohort or super-order Afrotheria based on molecular and DNA analysis. The order Afrosoricida (a Latin-Greek compound name which means "looking like African shrews" contains the Golden moles of southern Africa and Afrotheria is a Clade of Mammals with the rank of Superorder or Cohort, containing (among others the Golden moles Elephant shrews This means they are not related to other ungulates.
The orders of the extinct South-American ungulates, which arose when the continent was in isolation some time during the mid to late Paleocene, are united in the super-order Meridiungulata. The Paleocene or Palaeocene, "early dawn of the recent" is a geologic epoch that lasted from 65 Meridiungulata is a clade with the rank of cohort or super-order possibly part of Laurasiatheria, containing the South-American Ungulates Pyrotheria They are by some thought to be unrelated to the other ungulates. Instead, they are united with the Afrotheria and the Xenarthra in the supercohort Atlantogenata. The superorder Xenarthra is a group of Placental mammals (infraclass Eutheria extant today only in the Americas Atlantogenata is a molecularly-defined Mammal Clade containing the cohorts or super-orders Xenarthra and Afrotheria.
The position of other extinct ungulates is unclear. Embrithopods, Desmostylians and other related groups are seen as relatives of the Paenungulata, thus members of the Afrotheria. The condylarths are, as a result, no longer seen as the ancestors of all ungulates. Instead, it is now believed the condylarths are members of the cohort Laurasiatheria. Laurasiatheria is a Clade of rank Cohort or super-order within the Placentalia (living or Eutheria (Placentals and their extinct ancestors So it seems that, of all the ungulates, only the Perissiodacyla and Artiodactyla descended from the condylarths—assuming that the animals lumped by scientists into Condylarthra over the years are even related to one another.
As a result of all this, it seems the typical ungulate morphology originated three times independently: in the Meridiungulata, the Afrotheria and the "true" ungulates in the Laurasiatheria. This is a great example of convergent evolution. Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages This is met with scepticism by some scientists, who say there is no morphological evidence to split the ungulates up into so many unrelated clades.
See also
References
- ^ Mammology: adaptation, diversity, and ecology, Feldhammer, George A. The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and Grazing Mammals which compose the order Perissodactyla. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is 1999, p. 312
- ^ Seiffert, E. R. (2007). "A new estimate of afrotherian phylogeny based on simultaneous analysis of genomic, morphological, and fossil evidence". BMC Evolutionary Biology 7: 13.
- ^ Christine M. Janis, Kathleen M. Scott, and Louis L. Jacobs, Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 1. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 322-23.
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